Washable toilet puff



Nov. 14, 1933. A. c. BRUCKS 00 WASHABLE TOILET PUFF Filed Feb. 6, 1933 g6, .MENTOR f fiETHI/fl .BRI/'6K5 5 j BY@ M ATTORNEY Patented Nov'. 14, 1933 1,935,500 g WASHABLE TOILET PUFF "ApplicationFebruary 6, 1933.,Serial No. 655,427

9 Claims. (C1.132--78.5)

. This invention relates to an actually washable forin of' the commonlow-cost three-element type of toiletpuff employed by womenby. dippingitin loose face-powder and then dabbing the puff on the *slnnito apply thepowder thereto, ,and V employed -also towipe cleanse the skin,,al1 asdistinguished' from the. other or. non-sheet type of powder puffcomprising threads of ,swan s down or thelike, pendant radiallyfrom acentral handle. L f I Always'heretofore the washing ofisuchpuif hascaused it to loseits agreeable softness in applying it to theface,.'either to applypowderto, or to cleanse, the skin., Infact, thewashingalways has caused the puif thereaftentolcause a feeling ofactualharshness, as distinguished from the agreeable sensation `ofsoftnessprevious to washing, this havingbeen true to 'such extentthat inpreference to washing a used puff, it has been thrown away by rthose whobelieved they could afford replacement'byea new puff .with. its cleanand soft outer surfaces. Up to theztime of `the invention hereo'f,noitoilet puff ofthis" thin sheetfabric type has existed,,so far as :lknow, which waswashablein*theabove sense thatthe softness of itsapplication-surface continued to exist after washing to clean-surfacedcondition; .aitho the demand for such a-,washable puff has been --sogreat that the matter has ;been an unsolved problem for a good manyyears; j v An object ofthis invention is a washable puff of this thinsheet-fabric type, ,preferably retaining the same thin, closelyuwovenlouter fabric .sheets as .hei'etofore, preferably ,having ,pile-surfaces,withthe pile surface outside,and being preferably so closely'woven as'to prevent dust and soiled powder partioles from ,passing ,into the vinterior of the puff, all as a basisior .the novelistructure hereofwhereby'theSoiledl outer surfaces of the puff canbethoroly washe'd,,scrubbed with soapy water, and cleansed to ,thensatisfaction oftheuser, without impairment of'the ability of the. pu thereafter to createthedesiredand agreeable sensation of softness in application ,to theface.

The reasons 'why the prior puffs ofithis lowcost thin fabric type havenot ?been washable, altho having' the same `outer fabric:sh`eets as thenew puff, had remained somewhatobscure, but in the tests connected withthe. present invention which has solved this longexisting problem, thesepreviously obscure reasons'hauebeen.ediscovered by me, and are statedhefeina'fter.

In accordance withithe invention; theLtoiletpHff emboclying it' may, andpreferablyi does ,include the same two thin closely-woven fabric-sheetsas before, and preferably closely wovenpile surface fabrics; but'instead of inserting between v them, ..the former cut-outcottonebattingdisk, or any other materialiniany form, which shrinks uponair-'drying from water-wet condition; such as any form ofcotton ,orW001? notpre-shrunk, I place between the'fabricsheets an interiormeanswhich not only initially pufiszthem out. better than ever beforeto `acondition best ,adapted to dipping a curved outer ,surface'inthepowderand .applying it to the 'facabut .which'producesthe -new result ofatoilet puif.;which canibecleansed thoroly froina 'soiledcondition ofthe outer fabric-surfaces, by any amount; of washing by water desired,and repeatedly after successivesoilings, and all without reductionoftheagreeable softness and .without increase of harshness in use,

and without anyimpairment of theoriginal puffshape.

Of the drawing y Fig l;is .a diagrainmatic View ofapparatus and methodaccording to the.invention,;illustratingthe'best form .of .the-inventionnowiknown to me;

` Pig. 2 shows theitwo thin' but closelywovenfiat fabricdisks previoustoassembly;

Fig. 3 is a plane of the' same .two disks after having been assembledand sewn .together;

Fig. .4 is an elevationi of the atoiletpufi in process, after itihasbeen turned inside'-out 'from the condition ofFig. ,3, with thepile,surfaces outside,

and iniconditioh ,for'interior .processing as .in

, Fig'. 51s a section. of thezpuff aftercompletion I of .theexecution of.the methodofFig. 1,,.and

.Fig. .6 is an elevation of the completedpuff. 'jEig, :1 .illustrates a.manner, .of ..using theihvention involving blowingbetweenthe,outerfabric-sheets. aloose fibrous mass C,i,0,f. suitablematerial andconstructionias described. below, this beingithe best methodofusethusifarprodu'ced by or known .to nie." 'In the ,first .place, thefibers of loose mass C preferablyare, vegetable fibers of 'some:shortefiberedtype ,,too short tobe usedoin the productionof .fabrics sothat inaddition to .being .themselves of,lowicest,,they lend themselvesreadilyto this; low cost process of `being blown` in betweenthe fabricsheetsof the puff. Fig. 1 illustratesithe methodoinaoperation, anoz zieN of the pipe .P,from the' bl'owerlLfbeingintroduced into a small,openingJ-I'fbetween ,the fabric sheets A, .B of the puff,whichiotherjwise are stitched,. together at `S .near :but not .at theire'dges; orirathen 'the ,operator-..applies ,,the puff" in process to.nozzle ,N, so .that ,,the .latter enters such small opening H betweenthe edges 11'0 of the fabric disks; a suitable loose mass of theshort-fibered material C being introduced into the funnel F, for eachpuff in process. The cross section of Fig. 5 illustrates the conditionof the interior of the product upon completion of execution of themethod of Fig. 1, with the full coinplement of mass C in place,-Fig. 6showing the exterior of the completed article.

From comparison of Figs l and 5 it can be seen that enough of the,fibers C finally are blown in between the initially flat fabric sheetsto cause the latter to be substantially but usually not very greatlydistended, and that this distension is more or less progressiveaway fromtheir sewn-together edges, the distensicn being greater at points remotefrom the edges, so that a more or less conveX somewhat globular or atleast Convex outside curvature is imparted to the two outer surfaces ofthe pu, this curvature preferably as shown being abrupt, beginning atthe rim, and such abrupt curvature providing a suitable outwardly curvedsurface adap ed to be applied to and take up the loose facepowder andthen to apply the powder to the face.

An ordinary open-palmful of the loose short fibers, introduced into thetop of funnel or 'hopper 1 at C, is the quantity which producessubstantially this desired extent of distension as in Figs. 5-6, for apuff of the' ordinary diameter, i. e. about three inches. The funnel orhopper F preferably is so proportioned relative to its bottom openinginto blowing-pipe P that the entire open-palmful of the short fibers isnot blown' in at once, but rather somewhat gradually, even althorapidly, as successive portions of the loose mass C in F drop by gravityout of the lower opening of F into the path of the airblast thru pipe C,as from blower L. The blowing in process is continued until the entirecharge of short fibers has been transferred into position between sheetsA and B, when the predetermined mass C between them, as in Fig. 5, willimpart the desired distension and curvature to said sheets, proportionedto the predetermined charge placed in hopper F. Inpractice, the topopening of hopper F, thru which the open-palmful of short fibers C isdropped, is closed after the hopper has been charged with the fibers and'during the blowing operation, as by a cover hinged to the side wall ofthe hopper near its top. Only a moderate pressure of air, a few pounds,is required to blow the loose short fibers into the interior of thepuff, and into a condition of slightly less volume than when completelyloose inthe open palm of the hand. For' example, a hand bellows may beemployed to provide the airpressure, altho plainly it is better to getit from a power operated blower, as at L, Fig. 1. While thefabric-sheets A, B here, as ordinarily used heretofore, are so closelyWoven as to be practically impervious to loose powder applied to theexterior surface of the puff, nevertheless the moderate air-blast canpass freely from nozzle N, between the two facing fabrics'and out thruthem between their threads to atmosphere, leaving the yet loose and nothighly compacted mass C bebag or purse as is more generally the case. As

shown, nozzle N may be smaller than hole I-I, in a case where fabrics A,B are so closely woven as to interpose excessive resistance to even themoderate air-blast. This air pressure may be quite low because it is notnecessary to campact Very highly the mass C, which may be, andpreferably is, yet quite loose after having been blown into placebetween sheets A and B, altho then sufciently distending the exteriorsurface of one or both of the sheets A, B to the Convex puff shape asshown in Figs. 5-6. The principal object of this blowing method is toprovide a rapid mamner, at low cost, of arranging the short fibered massC in place, in lieu of the more eX- pensive but permissible. method ofusing the fingers to push the mass into place, which is also lessefiicient because thereby the portions of the mass C are not readily soevenly distributed in the desired loose form between fabricapplication-sheets A and B. Not only is it usually not desirable tocause the fabric sheets to be distended excessively by the interiormeans C but on the contrary it is desirable to have said meansdistributed' evenly and rather loosely between the application-sheets,altho in sufficient Volume .100 to distend them to puff shape. I havefound that the above described moderate blowing methcd most quickly andcheaply produces said desired results, particularly with the preferredshort-fibered material, and that upon completion of execution of suchmethod, the mass of loose fibers of inner material C lies uniforinly inplace and subsequently continues in place or :continues to tend alwaysto return ,to proper adapted to the short-fibered materials bedcscribed. Allthat 'then remains to be after completion of the'air-blast process, to the puff-opening II at its edge as byhand-serving short remaining unstitched arc l-I of the periphery of 'thepuff thru which nozzle N has been inserted during the blowing operation.4

The two fabric-sheets A, &Fi z 2 are sired close woven fabric materialepreferably alike and, previous to waehng, erably having the desirableparticulariy outer pile surface due to the close weaving. anycase, atleast one' of the sheets should coi of 'a 'fabric possessing as usualwhen the pu manufactured, the' desired soft outerapplicatiensurface ofthe fabric itself, irrespe rior mass C as a very -readily yi for thefabric. The characteristic of the coinpleted article is that the natureof the uns C inside the puff is such that it distends the fabric sheetsoutwardly as .ahcve, not only at of completion of the blowing process 1,and before washing, but that ci a substantially rnaintainssuchclistensicn, or least hol in desired puff shape, after washing andparticularly previous to and during drying of fabric sheets, for apurpose to be described, this nature of the means C being involved inthe' truly washable nature of the For this purpose 1.4; the nature ofthe interior means 'C is such not only. are its short fibers adapted tothe above economical blowing in process, and not only mass C initiallydistends the application-sheets as above, but that mass C substantiallymaintains cin ` fabric sheets which results from the blowing-in processof` Ffig 1', as' distinguished from the' prior relatively compact .cutcottonbatting flat disks;

. butin the best form of the invention, the interior means C possessesahigh resiliency (sufficient to maintain the above. puff-shape of theapplication sheets for all purposes, to 'be described) during dryingafter washing, even after ihaving been thoroly jwfetted orevensoaked andwater-,logged asby very thoro scrubbing insoapy water, i. e'. by theregular washing preferredby women for any tsucharticle which is to beapplied to ,the skin. For I have found that such maintenance of freg0siliency,, and that freedom` from shrinkage, felt- V ing and matting,are important, not merely in preserving a soft yielding backing for, andpreferably adjacent, the inner surfaces of the outer application-sheets,but moreparticularly in preserving, after washing, the essentialsoftness of the outer surfaces of the fabric sheetsflthemselves' asdistinguished from and in addition to such yielding backing. That is, Ihave found that, in order thatthe softness; of the puff shall bepreserved, and continue after washing and drying, it is not onlynecessary forthe massC toretain its yielding character, and itsresilient j among the reasons why prior sheet-'pui is were not washalolewas because the material between the application sheets consisted offibers which V ,45 not only were long but, as in the case of cotton orwool, were liable not only tolmat or feltduring use, but to"shrink upondrying 'afterwashr ing, and that such shrinkage permanently'impairedthe' desired softness of. the outer surfaces of the 'application sheetsthemselves, as ;distinguished from theyielding bacln'ng of 'the cottonor wool fibers themselves.

In Fig. 2, the surfaces of the fabricsheets A and B .which face oneanother are: the pile or other soft surfacesof the fabric whichare toconstitute the outer powder-applying or *skincleansing applicationsurfaces of the puff jin Fig. 6, as heretofore. V Fig. 3 shows thecondition' of thepuff in proc- 6G css, after the fabric sheets of Fig.'2 have been machine-sewn togetherin the same face-to-face a relationsas in Fig. 2. The generally` peripheral ;stitch-line S is ,somewhatremote from the ;rims

" ":"of sheets A and B, and is discontinuous, leaving I by, the mass byitself will 'resume its initial V aluc 4 a small opening or hole flbetween small, arcs of adjacent rims of the twofacial application;sheets But :this *opening is large enough to permit the pufizin processin the stateshown in cent surfaces of Figs. 2 and 3. This turninginside-out ofcourse effectively'camouflages altho it doesnot'necessarilyfperfectly conceaLdFig. 4, i

, the .line of mahine-stitches S, as heretofore Leuttiiq i' in;th fprsentgmv n o i' si i quird 'to be any larger: than "s j'ne'cessfary 'to?permit of 'theturning inside-out, because' here nojfiatdisk"of'jcotton-batting'is to '*befinserted ithr thei oie-, ut only'nozzleN gf Fie} which may be quite "small as'*shown, for the purpose jbw n i t ,short s f n F e., 4;" o e .H isjshownflared open treceiVenozzleN; ;After 'c mpletion of the fprocessof Eigfll as shown in`5 `F1g. 5, the hole I-I is closed byhand-sewing. The

processof Fig. '1 constitutes 'a'labor-saving lows dra idme h d' o om lee t e u s a contrasted; with the prior method of cutting out afcotton-battingfdisk and* inserting it {thru hole,, 9

' H, andjthen insertingitl'fe'fingers of'th' hand thru the'hole H inorderto smooth out' the cotton disk flat 'in a eio ejcween' flat sheetsA*a d-;13.-

' Inoperation pf'the inventionin usegthe blownin; interior andonlyfslightly compacted 'and yet loose ma'ss C ofzshortffibers, in :thesui'cient vol-""' nne above jstated (about an open-palmful of the looseshortefibered mass for'ea'ch *puff of ordinary size), is j sufiicientfto distend ithe fabric sheets'to puff 'shape, and hold one or bothof.];00 them'so, not' only previous to washing of the puff** jbut duringand after drying, ,afterwashingin that :the continuin'g condition 'ofthe 'shape and 'Volume and resiliency'ofl mass C' prevents the fabricsheets A, 'Bfrom 'shrinking during drying lp The ,open-palmful beforeblowing occupies a little less Volume insideflthejpu fter blowing, evenalthoit is yet loose and not highly' compacted. j b That which I hayefoundto be of the greatest llo value toward the production of' awashable pow- 'der puff, was that a massfiof kapok'fibers after ,havingbecome perfectly soaked and water- ,loggedand after havinglostsubstantially all its instantaneousmass resiliency even when. re-'q415 duced to a wring-dry condition, resulting from ,thoro washing ofthe*pufi,' not "only did not shrink, during s bsequent drying thereof,and

, didnotmmator feltunderany conditions of use `or of washing, but didthe 'exact opposite'of 1 0 either shrinkingmattingpr teuing, i. e. themass** :las it dried, had its'initial resil'ency and volume fullyrestored, this action of'expansion from; -the small Volume of thewring-dry condition being particularly rapid (so rapid as to be plainlyvisl25 ible to the eye) beginning with the time when the soaking wetkapok was'wrung to' wring-dry. condition., Such most rapid rate"`of`expansion' does not continue, long' and'does not rapidly carry the 'massC inside the puff back to initiahlSO I V volume asmanufaetured, but issucceeded by a"` slower rate of expansion for' a longer'periodpf timeduring the rest of the time of drying of mass r C', which lower ratecontinues until all the water has left mass C, at 'which time'the'volume and.,l resiliencyof the kapok mass as initially estab-"lishedinside the puff are fully restored, so that if the' kapok mass beremoved from the inside of the puff and from the slight restrictionthereas an ordinary open-palmful for a'puif of. the ordinary diameter ofabout three inches;.that is,

"when the mass C'inside'the puff is entirely dry, Fig. 3, to be turnedinside out to the final rela- 70 tions of the sheets shown in Big. 4wherein the outer application pile surfaces (when the fabric a isapne-fabric) are the former facing and adjait presses the fabricapplication-sheets outward just as when the puff is first manufactured,so that the puff shape is fully restored, and the l 'application sheetsare prevented from returning to the rfiat CQndition ofFig.. 4 revious tothe process ofFig. 1) either' during their' 'drying or subs'egnent todryingl rh 's the initial delicatelyz.

as a permanently ideal backing for the fabric application sheets, andfurthermore, I have found that for the first time the softness of theouter application-surfaces themselves is fully restored after washingand drying, and I believe the reason for this latter very importantresult tobe that the initial volume and resiliency of the mass Carefully restored in ample time before the drying' of the fabric sheets.Thus, in airdrying, as the outer atmosphere at ordinary room temperature.and hurnidity 'ab'sorbs the water from the outer surfaces of the fabricsheets exposed to the outer air, additional water is conducted to suchouter' fabric-surfaces from the interior of the'fabric sh ets, and inturn additional water is conducted to such interiors .from the interiormass C which is in water-conducting relation to'the inner fabricsurfaces; so that mass C is fully dried while yet the fabric sheets arewet and before they themselves have become dry or can ,begin to shrink;that is, before shrinking of A and B has occurred or can occur,

the mass C is fully dried and restored to its initial volume andresiliency as originally established inside the puff, so that it again,after its own drying, puifs out the fabric sheets while they frommatting and felting, it is an ideal backing for the shrinkable fabricapplication-sheets. If

' the kapok fibers were long enough to be woven into a fabric suitablefor. sheets A and B, a toilet puff might be made of such unshrinkablesheets, without need of any interior puif-shaping mass C, but I havefound that the very shoruness of the kapok fibers which prevents themfrom being woven `into a fabric, is the condition which provides thebasis forthe possibility of the conomical blowing process of Figl, sothat all the above advantages of interior mass C are utilized in thistoilet puff, without need of making .any change from prior practice asto the nature of closely woven thin fabric sheets A and B.

The above characteristics of most rapid eX- pansibility and increase ofrestoration of volume and resiliency of'the kapok mass C at the time ofcommenc'ement of its air-drying from a wring-dry state of the mass, isnot the important thing in this toilet puff, but rather the fact thatregardless of any rate as rapid as that, of the restoration of the kapokto its original con'- dition ,inside the puff previous to wetting, suchrestoration' is completed before dr'in'g of the fabricapplication-sheets, for the above reasons that mass C is air-driedprevious to the airdrying of the application'sheets, and such'drying ofmass C fully restores its initial condition inside the puff; i. e., eventhe outer surfaces of the mass of fibers C, in addition to the interiorof the mass, are" dried before the inner surfaces of application sheetsA and B can become dried.

Conversely, in the process of washing the puff,

sincethe application sheets A, B necessarily 'are thoroly wettedprevious to wetting of the outer portions of mass C, and since the drykapok initially strongly repels watch;notwithstanding that I havefoundthat it'is water-soalred by a thoro washing of the puff, afairlythoro if not` complete scrubbing of I the ;pufi in cleansingwater, which would causesubstantial shrinkage of a mass of cotton orwool fibersfleven in a loose mass, and a permanent matting of cottonfibers, might not even thorcly wet the interior of the kapok mass C, inwhich case of incomplete scrubbing of the puff, the total time of dryingof the puff as a whole might be greatly reduced.

might become wetted by a hand-wringing of the puff to 'extract excesswater from the fabric r sheets, so that the degree of thoroness ofwashing might not make much difference in the total drying time of thepuff.

The valuable feature of loose and only slightly compacted mass C in anycase as above is that whatever may be the nature of the ,washing anddrying operations on the puff, the mass C always,

save temporarily when it is water-soaked, maintains the desired shapeand softness of the application surfaces of the puff, restoring themafter w ching and drying, to the same condition as when the puff wasfirst manufactured, without shrinkage of either application sheets A orB, or mass C itself, notwithstanding that said fabric sheets themselvesare shrinkable and would shrink with any shrunk condition of massCduring the drying of sheets A and B; and another valuable feature ofmass C is that neither in use nor as the result of washing does it mator felt and thereby permit shrinkage of the fabric sheets during drying,or their' departure at any time from the desirable initial puff shape;andkapol: is preferred also for mass C because its charact risticshortness of adapts it to the preferred econoinical blowing process ofFig. 1. r I

The kapok may be employed in the process of lou Fig. l in its naturalstate (but of course with D seeds removed) ,,1. e., in its conditionafter being loosened from the bales in which it is compressed in Javafor export to-this country. 'Masses thus loosened from the compact balecondition are suitable for use in the process of 1 The quantity of anopen-palniful above described refers to such condition of the kapok asloosened from its compressed condition in the bales. While r theblowing-in process is preferred, yet when kapok constitutes mass C or atleast asubstantial proportion thereof,, as an element of the.

washable puff herecf, asis preferred, it operates advantageously asdescribedabove, noniatter by method it is inserted between sheets A and'B, provided that a properyolume, as above, is

introduced to cause'niass C to press outward so iinpair permanentlytheir initial surface softness.

bulge to said sheets; that is, the softness of the kapok mass always isso great as to yield readily to the inward pressure of application tothe skin, notwithstanding the high resiliency of this material. And onthe .other hand the permanent resiliency of this material (when not inwatersoaked condition) is so great, and its freedom from matting andfelting so complete, that even in a Very loose mass C, (altho sufficientto distend sheets A and B to puff shape), it will, after inward pressureby application to the skin, press resiliently outward with sufficientforce to restore the normal puffshape of the sheets. That is, mass C,when dry, before or after washing, always will possessthe desirableamounts of softness and of resiliency, andthe desired original volumeand shape, irrespective of its degreeof looseness or relativecompactness inside the puff within a wide range thereof, provided that,altho the mass is in general loose, it is in sufficient volume orsufiiciently compact to resist the tendency of the fabric applicationsheets to shrink during drying after washing, such extent of loosenessbeing that which as I have found, enables mass C to yield readily to thedelicate pressure of application of the puff to the facial skin so as tomaintain the ability of the puff to create the demanded pleasingsensation of softness.

In View of the apparently opposed facts (1) that the prevention ofshrinkage of the fabric application sheets A, B apparently wouldjrequire substantial outward pressure by mass C and (2) that massC inorder to create the sensation of softness when applied to the facialskin,

water and soap or water or other liquid alone, the' out to a wring-drystate. i

This invention conforms with the essential reapparently should yieldVery readily to the pressure of such application, (of course incooperation with the softness of the outer surfaces of 'the'application-sheets), it" is surprising that "the kapok mass C providesexactly the conditions which satisfy both such apparently opposed facts,and I have not been able to discover the reasons for this ideal natureof the kapok mass to any further extent than as above. e

The new toilet puff hereof is claimed for all its uses including thetreatment, as cleansing, of the skin by anything in which the puff maybe dipped, such as the usual loose face-powder, or'even' water, for thereason that as' above the puff hereof is not injured by watennor, I havefound, ley-any combination of water and soap desired for thorocleansing. of the puff itself, so that'the puff may be used with soapand water, if desired, for. cleansing the skin. In each case, (l) of useto apply face-powder and subsequent washingof. the puff to cleanse it,and (2) to cleanse' the skin with above operations of the elements ofthepuffwill be substantially the same as above described; and in eithercase, as in any washable fibrous 'materials, the time of air-drying of-the watersoaked article, will be. reduced greatly by wrin'ging of thefabric-sheet type, which consists in inter-` posing'in the path of anair-blast directed between the assembled application-sheets, a looseing-in operation until a sufiicient quantity of, the

'fibers is introduce'dbetween the sheets to cause puff shape bothinitially and during and after drying subsequent towashing, therebypermanently maintaining said softness of their exteriorapplication-surface&

4. A washable toilet puff of the fabric-sheet type, which includes' thecombination with the application-sheets, of means between and distendingthem to puff shape, and including kapok V fibers causing the mass tohold the sheets in the puff shape as originally manufactured, bothduring andafter drying of` the application-sheets after washing of thepuff. r

l 5. Awashable toilet puff of the fabric-sheet type, which include thecombination with the fabric application-sheets, .of a mass of kapokfibers between and holding the sheets in puff shape at all times beforewashing of the puff, and

during and after drying of the sheets after washtype which includes thecombination with the* fabric application sheets,-.of a mass of kapokfibers in natural state, between said sheets and pressing them outwardlyto puff shape before andafter washin'gof the puff. l

' 7. A toilet puff which includes a fabric enclosure consisting of twofabric sheetsof which at least one is closely woven and has a soft eX-terior surface, and kapokfibers inside said enclosurein sufficientvolume to impart a puff shape thereto.

8; A toilet puff which includes, a fabric enclosure consisting of twoinitially flat fabric sheets secured together ,near their edges, and anenclosed resilient mass including kapok holding said fabric enclosure inpuff shape before and after the wetting of the puff bywashing andwhilethe fabric enclosure is drying after washing, and after the dryingof the fabric enclosure.

9; In a toilet disk, the combination with the two fabric sheets of whichat least one 'has a soft outer surface agreeable in application to theskin but ordinarily impaired in softness by washing of the puff, ofmeans between the two sheets which includes kapok in a volume holdingsaid soft surfaced sheet in puff shape, permanently before washing ofthe puff and during drying 'thereof after washing, thereby permanentlymaintaining 'a resilient backing contributing to the softness of thepuff and also preserving the softness of said `outer application surfaceitself by" preventing shrinkage of said sheet during the drying of thesheet;

V ARTHUR C. BRUCKS.

mass of kapok fibers, and continuing such blow- I

